Poured into becker pint glass; dark brown with a big fluffy tan head that leaves tons of lacing as it dissipates about halfway to sit as a thick disc of foam. Smell is a nice mix of fruity and piney hops, and dark chocolate malts. Taste is absolutely delicious; the mouthfeel is perfect, creamy and full, with chocolate dark malts moving seamlessly into juicy fruity hops. It finishes sweet and bitter at the same time, and sticky. Awesome. (440 characters)

A - Dark mahogany with elegant white head that just sits calmly above the top like ducks on the pond. As Stewart Scott once said it is "Cool as the other side of the pillow.

S - I don't really judge a beer off smell but if i did it would probably lose some points. Smells kind of like a lot of hoppy beers (like shit).

T - This is where the beer gains its points. The beer tastes like a perfert version of a nuru massage (I had to use an Asian reference.

M - Simply splended.

O - Second time having this beer. This isn't much of a summer beer but i remember sipping this during Christmas Eve one year and thats when craft beer became a passion instead of a hobby. Not to sure that this beer tops by 10 but this beer will always be remembers because of how it turned me into craft beer. (789 characters)

Bottle into glass pours a large foamy head that is tan in color. The beer is a deep mohagony/amber color with hints of red and copper in light. Head settles at a moderate rate to leave heavy lacing. Smells of deeply roasted malts, pumpernickel bread, bitter dark chocolate, and faint hops with a bit of tobacco.

Taste starts with suprising but welcome citric hops (didn't get much smell of these) which are quickly overtaken by roasty malts with bitterness, chocolate, and tobacco, has a bitter, roasty, hoppy finish. Mouthfeel is medium to light with moderate carbonation for a black IPA. (590 characters)

Smells of roasted malts, shortbread or biscuity with the smallest hint of apple or pear somewhere in the background.

Is a surprising first sip - big hops - not overwhelmingly bitter, or stingingly astringent necessarily - but spicy and fruity. You know it's Victory immediately. Afterward, as it starts to warm up, you get a malty backbone strong enough to hang those juicy hops on; they're almost bitter orange & linger on the exit. It's just the slightest bit toward the heavy side; it's too hefty to be "sessionable," it'd do you well to savor it. (621 characters)

Appearance - Dark brown colour with a large size fizzy beige head. I can't make out the amount of carbonation showing and there is some good lacing. The head lasted for 2-3 minutes before it was gone.

Smell - Malts, chocolate, grains, hops, grapefruit

Taste & Mouth - There is an above average amount of carbonation and I can taste malts, chocolate, and coffee. There are also some orange/apricots/grapefruit mixed with a bit of a smokiness. It ends with a malty yest fruity bitter hop aftertaste.

Overall - Really good stuff. It's like a flavour explosion when you take your first sip. A nice mix of flavours and a good balance of east and west coast flavours. ABA's are one of my favourite styles, and I'd drink this again any time. (782 characters)

Pours a hazy super dark orange-brown with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Foamy rings of lace line the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, cocoa, citrus zest, and some spicy hop aromas. Taste is much the same with a citrus zest flavor that lingers on the finish. There is a medium amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that is tasty and easy to drink. (546 characters)

A- Pours a deep brown with a quickly disappearing white head.N- Nose is full of brown sugar and malt followed but a big hop wallop.T- Beginning pallet is very malty sweet with some dark fruits, the hop character takes a while to develop but finishes big and piney. O- This is a great winter beer. Enough bittering hops to balance out the initial sweetness of the malt. This is a solid east coast dark IPA, not to be confused with a NW CDA (441 characters)

A- A dark amber color with a manilla colored head of foam. Great head retention and lots of lacing.

S- Earthy caramel malt with lots of pine. There's also a nice sweet grapefruit aroma that is very pleasant.

T- After a great start with appearance and taste, it goes downhill fast. It tastes of bitter pine, with some bitter malt at the end. Mostly pine though, nothing else. It's like Victory thought they could just put hops in and it would end up good. This taste isn't pleasant.

M- Moderate body with high amounts of carbonation. The bitterness from the taste dries your mouth and makes this hard to go down.

O- I really dislike it when breweries put hops upon hops in their beers. Hops does not make your beer good. There's so much more to a beer and it annoys me when the only attribute I can really describe is the hop, and the hops used in this beer are very simple and have no complexity to them at all. (915 characters)

Tobacco, burnt, bitter rye bread notes. Victory american hops big time. Very hoppy profile. Spicy in the finish. Slightly herbal hidden behind the big malt and hop flavors. Big full body. One of the best black ipas in my opinion. Most of them are crap these days. (302 characters)

A: Nearly opaque, hints of ruby when held up to the light. Medium carbonation and a brown/tan head that dies down to about 1/4in.

S: Sweet malt and spicy, floral hops. Almost no citrus to be had. Wonderful combination.

T: Again that sweet (caramel, little bit of honey, roasted barley) malt balanced with the spicy , earthy hop. Lingering bitterness on the tongue but, just like it smells, none of the citrus/grassy/grapefruit that characterizes IPA

M: Little bit of carbonation, medium body. Drinkable.

O: Call it what you want (Dark IPA, American Black Ale, Cascadian Dark) this is a great combination of the right malts with the right hops. Great by itself, or with some hearty food. (690 characters)

taste - follows the nose. quite bitter and you really can't taste anything else other than citrus piney like hops.

backend taste - same... just hops.

overall - I liked it but a little too hop filled for me. IMO, appearance is the best thing about this beer, it looks great and you get lacing all the way down the glass and a huge head out of it. (513 characters)

Pours a deep, hazy mahogany color with an initial massive 4 finger khaki head that sticks around for a while before receding to a collar and leaves moderate, spidery lacing.

Pine and citrus hops intermingle with sweet and roasted malt, hazelnut, and some brown sugar. Very interesting for a black IPA.

There's a nice (and strong) nutty flavor throughout, with some sweet and biscuity malts, earthy hops, slight brown sugar, and slight alcohol on the finish. More malt forward than most black IPA's I've had, but very tasty nonetheless. The hops give a nice kick on the finish as well, and some cocoa makes a brief appearance as the beer warms.

11.5 oz at Duckworths. About the lightest dark ale I've ever seen. A ruby brien with a finger of white. Frothy and laced ok.

Aroma, quite hoppy, citrus and pine. Some limited toasted malt.

Taste, also crisp and hoppy. Minimal roast. Citrus herbal pine is all there. Not much roast, just a mild malt backbone. Nearly a straight ipa to me. The roast and cocoa qualities open up a bit as it warms.

Pours a clear dark ruby with a one finger dark tan head. Nice fluffy head retention and decent lacing.

Aroma is different than any other ABA I have had. Very nutty, almost like hazelnut, along with cocoa and a little bit of caramel and cinnamon. Nice Earthy hop undertones to prop it up. I don't know how they got that aroma without the use of spices!

More cocoa and hazelnut in the taste. Lots of caramel too almost reminds me of cinnamon roasted almonds or something. Wonderful light earthy hop flavor along with assertive bitterness. Mouthfeel is on the slick and sweet side but just barely stays restrained. Finish is a little sticky but understandable given the abv and amount of specialty malt.

Overall, a really great example of an American Black Ale. Great, unique, malt character and wonderful interaction between malt and hops. I really need to get some more of this this winter. (924 characters)

12oz bottle picked up from Deli Lama in Lake Villa, served in pint glass

A- Pours dark with hints of red when held up to the light. A nice frothy, tan head of about one and a half fingers is present. Has good retention and leaves some nice lacing.

S- Citrusy and piney hop smell is the dominating aroma in this beer.

T- The taste is an interesting combination of roasted malt flavor and hops. In my opinion, it tastes a little bit like an APA with a richer, sweeter, more malty taste. Bitterness of the hops and roasted malts cover the strong ABV%.

M- Medium-heavy bodied that is smooth at the way through. Carbonation, in my opinion, is just right for this style.

O- This is a very interesting beer that I enjoyed and would certainly have again. I like the combination of bitter hop and malt flavors. Also enjoyed the high ABV% that was hardly noticeable. Could definitely have a few of these and enjoy a nice little buzz. (930 characters)

What initially caught my eye was "Yakima" - my hometown where I grew up in Central WA before moving East. However Victory Brewing Co is out of PA, but use hops from the Yakima Valley (subsequently 75% of Anheuser-Busch's hops come from this valley)

A- deep dark red amber with thin tan head, minimal lacingS- earthy aroma, sweet smell on the back-endT- very hoppy, some almost caramel undertones, lasting aftertaste M- buttery and smooth across palateD- great for sipping, would pair well with pub style food or a chocolate dessertO- great taste, ABV is high without overpowering on bitterness, I highly recommend

Attractive deep russet hue, topped by a respectable ecru head that lingers a bit. Unexceptional but perfectly good malty aroma. Nice, toasty flavor, brings in elements of cocoa and dates, followed up by a little hoppy volatility. Texture nearly creamy. While not a chart-topper, worthy of becoming a staple. (307 characters)

The beer pours a dark brown with a light tan head that provides some lacing, but eventually falls flat while drinking. The nose is piney/hoppy with a slight bite from the alcohol and a touch of sweetness. As the beer warms the alcohol becomes more pronounced in the beer's nose. When tasting the beer I'm a bit surprised as it lacks the roastiness I was expecting based on the beer's appearance and nose. It has a lot more resiny bitterness than I'd expected and a touch of caramel in the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is mild-medium bodied with a bit of caramel and a pronounced, residual, hoppy/bitter punch to the palate. Overall I'm not too impressed and think a bit more citrus/fruity/floral hops would go a long way with making this beer significantly better. (761 characters)

A: Slightly hazy dark red-brown with tiny particles and giant three-finger, off-white, creamy head that lasted a long time. Great lacing.

S: Herbal pine and notes of grapefruit.

T: Light sweetness and solid hop bitterness. Too bitter with not enough sweet malt to balance. A very faint trace of nice sweet malt is just barely detectable in the finish.

M: Medium bodied with fizzy carbonation. Smooth.

O: Maybe I just don't like American Black Ales - not sure. I felt like the strongly bitter hops were not balanced at all by the burnt, roasted malt. For comparison, I think Victory Hop Devil has similar hops in it, but I enjoyed that much more than this. (686 characters)

Deep brown color while pouring and dark chestnut , ruby brown inside the glass. Hazy, translucent. Some hop residue settled at the bottom of the glass. Over one finger thick bubbly and fluffy tan colored head that stays for sometime and then forms a thin layer. Lacing is excellent and sticks very well. A lot of bubbles are seen rising up inside the glass.

Aroma: Grassy and floral aroma that is subdued to an extent by roasted malts that come up just very faintly. No booze is observed in the nose for this 8.7% brew, which is good. Grape fruit and mild piney character. This one is hell complex for me to discover. Too many things going on. Caramel may be, some chocolate and some citrus hops.

Taste: Very upfront bitterness. Wrecks the palate to a certain extent. Enters like a piney and citrus IPA. Middle is when you get a glimpse of roasted malts and some sweetness. Ends again with bitterness. Some booze is felt. Very nice display of intricacies and conflicts going on between hops and malts. Aftertaste is full of bitterness. Bitter dry finish.

Mouth feel :Medium to slightly full body. Oily character is apparent and somewhat abundant. Bitterness leads to some astringency. Well hidden alcohol. Moderate to slightly high on carbonation but it works well. Palette is left numb for a good amount of time. Provides excellent warmth through alcohol and hop sensation.

Nice black IPA. Complex - yes. Heavy - certainly. For what it is, it is excellent.